Comparsion between a Web Designer and Web Developer ...

Before you contract a web design / web development agency (or person) to build your website, it is important to understand their skill set and what they are providing you now and into the future.

A website designer, is someone who can visually design the site, and might be able to deploy your design into something like WordPress or a hosted platform such as Shopify or Adobe Business Catalyst. They usually will have some low level technical skill such as tweaking some frontend code.

A website developer, is someone who can write code from scratch, and should be able to provide custom solutions to meet client's needs. Someone that can "WordPress install plugins" is not a web developer, as they really aren't writing anything (rather they are just using third party code).

Why is this important?

As your business grows or changes, you need someone who will be able to build and change your website to meet your needs. If you've only employed a web designer, this person may not be the right person for the job.

Specifically, we've had cases where clients have come to us, having "out grown" the person who originally built their website because they need new processes, or their website has simply broken (or been hacked), and the person who originally put it together doesn't know how to fix it.

At TMD Online we employ both website designers and web developers. Ensuring you get the best of both worlds.

Web Designer

Web Developer

Can design visuals for website

Can cut up website into open source platforms or use existing theme

Can use frontend technologies such as CSS / JavaScript

Has a thorough understanding of backend technologies such as PPP, Java or ASP.net

Can build custom modules without using third party modules or copying and pasting vast bits of code from Google

Knows what to do when a website is compromised or there is an issue at the hosting end